Sanctuary Mausoleum
by Midnyght Saber
Summary: At the age of nineteen, Sam is gunned down during a political rally, and in sorrow, Danny begins to build a tomb for her within the ghost zone, falling into despair that he cannot find her on the other side, seeking her to know if she has found peace.


**Disclaimer: **_Danny Phantom _and all related characters and information are the property of Butch Hartman and Viacom International, Inc. "Like You" is the property of Evanescence and Wind-Up Records, distributed by Sony BMG Music Entertainment.

* * *

I was there when it happened.

It was the eighth demonstration that year that Sam and I had attended, a rally that she had been invited to as a key speaker, in part because of her previous speeches and because of her online blog, a very liberal 'say it as you see it' piece of work that had garnered her a _lot_ of attention, both good and bad. This particular rally focused on tolerance and acceptance of all people, something that was believed to be part of living in the States, but something that was more talk and not as much action. Despite her less-than-welcome views, at least in the eyes of some, she was a very rational, level-headed speaker, a person that could make worlds turn with her voice and her conviction.

As she was finishing her speech, there was a muffled crack of what I thought was thunder…until I saw Sam fall to the ground, her eyes glazed over, blood spreading beneath her body. A crazed holler sounded from across the plaza, and I saw the gunman.

The next thing that I remember was the police pulling me off of the bloody mass that the man had become under my fists and sonic assaults. My white gloves and the emblem Sam had added to my suit were stained a sick crimson, but the guy had somehow survived my beating.

My best friend had not been so lucky – she had been dead before she even hit the ground, her heart blown wide open.

Dear Goddess, she was only nineteen.

Matters were made worse when her family informed us that they would not have anything to do with her, which included not paying for her funeral. As it was, they had disowned her two years prior when she had decided to convert from the Jewish faith.

You see, Sam and I were solitary Wiccans. I'd been a practicing wytch since I was fifteen, the faith my choice, the end of the road on a personal journey to find a belief that could help me cope with my ghost half. Many of the ones that I'd looked into either denied the very existence of ghosts, or only supported the idea of a Holy Spirit and nothing more. I had stumbled across a beginner's guide to Wicca one day while I was at the library, and as I studied more and started getting into contact with a few practitioners via the Web, I began to find peace with the ghost within. It eventually got to the point that I was able to reveal who I was to my parents.

Sam had seen my pentagram one day, asking what it was for, understanding that, despite many people viewing it as a sign of devil-worship, I was wearing it for different reasons. I explained and she asked if she could see what I had been studying, so I allowed her to look through the books that I had purchased over the past year or so. Although I was skeptical that she'd find something in my beliefs, especially considering how devout she and her family were, she soon joined me, stating that she'd never felt _this_ close to the divine. The first spell she ever cast, used to cure a nasty bout of the flu that her grandmother had developed, not only worked within hours, but as Sam worked in the circle under the full Moon, I could feel the immense spiritual and magickal energy that she raised.

Now, I struggled to find a way to have her buried. My parents had tried to convince the Mansons to, at the least, have her interred at an agnostic cemetery, and I'd gone with them. Mr. Manson, rather than listen to my parents, had taken so deep a shot at our faith…that I punched him.

- - - - -

"I'll have nothing to do with a sorceress that challenged the power of God with her dark art. She's damned for denying…"

He wasn't able to finish that sentence, my fist catching him square in the jaw.

"You don't understand a thing. Your _daughter_ was a better healer than me, and a great friend, and she never challenged _any_ God. She served Isis and Osiris as sincerely and devoutly as They could have asked her to, and she respected the deities of every religion, not just her own."

- - - - -

I helped my parents pay for her burial, the seven hundred dollars I'd had saved up helping as much as it could. That money was supposed to have gone to getting her an engagement ring, as I had been planning on proposing to her in less than a month, and here it was, being spent on having her remains buried.

**Stay low**

**Soft, dark, and dreamless**

**Far beneath my nightmares**

**And loneliness**

Mine and Tucker's families were the only ones to attend her funeral. In respect to her faith, and as a fellow Wiccan, I sang of the journey through the Underworld, as she had followed the Egyptian pantheon, praying through the song for her safe passage, asking that the Lords and Ladies of the Land of the Dead would guide and protect her soul until she reached the haven beyond. I barely finished, as much as I was crying by the end, and Jazz and Tucker were at my side in an instant, holding me as I collapsed to the ground, sobs wracking my entire body.

**I hate me**

**For breathing without you**

**I don't want to feel**

**Anymore**

**For you**

Despite us being of the same faith, we had worshipped different pantheons, and we had never quite agreed on what the afterlife had in store for us. So I'd prayed to Kerridwen, the Celtic Goddess of death, that Sam was safe. Nightly, I lit a white candle smudged in myrrh oil, praying that the light would keep her soul on safe paths.

Despite His not being a member of the Celtic pantheon, I called out to Morpheus, the God of Dreams, to guide my soul to hers within the dream realms, but never was I granted the reprieve I so desperately sought.

I couldn't find her, no matter how hard I called, and it tore me to shreds.

I began working every night in the Ghost Zone, slowly building a burial chamber for her, molding my ecto-energy to create a tomb worthy of her. I'd even gone so far as to create a metal plate to cover the floor, something that wouldn't sink through the Zone but also allow me to bring real-world items here.

Since she'd moved in with us after her parents had kicked her out, it wasn't much work to move all of the things from her room to the crypt I was designing. In whatever way I could, I would do honor to her memory.

**Grieving for you**

**I'm not grieving for you**

**Nothing real love can't undo**

My parents watched me slip into despair at her loss, even discovering the reason that I had so much money on hand after her death, and had bought me the amethyst and onyx engagement ring that I had planned on getting.

One day, when no one was around where Sam was buried, my parents took me to the cemetery, waiting as I sank beneath the ground, placing the ring on her finger once I'd reached her casket.

Her body had been well-embalmed, and she hadn't changed a bit from that day.

And an idea began working its way through the back of my mind.

**And though I may have lost my way**

**All paths lead straight to you**

My parents had done something for her that I could never hope to thank them enough for, but I wanted more. For a devoted healer, a motivational speaker, a sister Pagan, the greatest friend I could ever ask for…and the woman I loved, I would honor her strength and determination and all that she had ever done in life.

**I long to be like you**

**Lie cold in the ground like you**

Delving into my research, I dove into the books she'd owned, what books of hers that weren't already in the crypt all over my room.

Slowly, as my research progressed, the hieroglyphs were etched into the walls of the sepulcher I'd designed, allowing none other than I and what I allowed to pass through them, and assuring that whatever was within here would never decay.

**Halo**

**Blinding wall between us**

**Melt away and leave us alone again**

Every single thing she'd owned was moved into her tomb – every book, every piece of clothing, all of it. I brought it all, the bed becoming the most prominent thing there. I'd added wrought iron ivy vines to the bedposts I'd made, the sheer black canopy curtains decorated with violet flowers… flowers that always reminded me of her eyes.

**Humming, haunted somewhere out there**

**I believe our love can**

**See us through in death**

I've tried everything – trance meditation, astral projection, crystal scrying, Ouija boards – and nothing works. Even if she'd already passed on to the other side, she'd still be able to contact me somehow. We'd crossed the realms before, contacting my grandmother, her grandfather, and a number of spirits who needed nothing more than to get in touch with their families.

Sam was such a powerful psychic. Why can't I _reach_ her?

**I long to be like you**

**Lie cold in the ground like you**

**There's room inside for two**

I'm slowly paying my family back for the funeral, the coffin and the mortician. Let them think it a thank-you for what they've done, but I'll never let them know why I truly feel it necessary that they are repaid.

**And I'm not grieving for you**

**I'm coming for you**

Come on, how hard can it be to find her grave at two in the morning? She's only been here for three weeks. Wait…there's the little maple tree we always pass.

Come on, where is it? Goddess, I know I'm close.

The books all state that she may not be ready to contact me, but why can't I at least find her to know she's safe? Mother Goddess, why did you weave her life string in the Web so short? I need her.

I've found it.

**You're not alone**

**No matter what they told you**

**You're not alone**

**I'll be right beside you**

**Forevermore**

The ground here is so cold, but I sink down into it to find her. I have to be with her.

She hasn't changed. I know that three weeks is a short time, but there's absolutely no change. The jewels on her ring flash bright with the glowing green of my eyes, and I take her fragile, cold hands in mine. She's still so beautiful.

The dam on my emotions, the one that has let me handle both of my jobs, family, and life without her, breaks right then.

She made my life worth living.

She made me who and what I am.

She _made_ me Danny Phantom.

I want so much to be with her again, but I know that she'd want me to live my life.

**I long to be like you**

**Lie cold in the ground like you**

**There's room inside for two**

Her body is so light…so empty. Holding her close, holding onto all I have left, I take her to where she belongs. Laying her down on the bed, crossing her arms over her chest, just like the Egyptian burial rites said, I sit beside her, letting my human side take control. The tears that cannot be shed while I am in ghost form are released now, my sorrow and pain overtaking me completely.

_I miss you so much, Sam._

**And as we lay in silent bliss**

**I know you remember me**

**I long to be like you**

**Lie cold in the ground like you**

**There's room inside for two**

**And I'm not grieving for you**

**I'm coming for you**

"I've missed you, too, Danny."

* * *

Just for those of you who might be wondering…no, I did not turn Sam into a ghost. She did pass on into the next world, but her return is her spirit finding Danny in order to provide him the solace that he needs so desperately since he lost her. She moved between worlds to comfort him, to let him know that she was okay, that she'd passed through the Underworld just fine.


End file.
